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Boris Johnson will speak with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, tonight as negotiations continue on a post-Brexit trade deal.
The prime minister will have a phone call with Ms Von der Leyen at 7pm UK time with the two leaders to take stock of the current state of trade talks.
Discussions on the UK’s future relationship with the EU continued in Brussels on Thursday morning, with the two teams also working until Wednesday night.
Two weeks left until the end of the Brexit transition period
The European Parliament has set a three-day deadline for a post-Brexit trade deal to be agreed, as it warned that MEPs will not have time to ratify a deal this year unless it is ready by Sunday night.
Meanwhile, MPs were sent home from Parliament for the Christmas holidays on Thursday, and were not due to return to Westminster until January 5.
However, Downing Street has said it could pull parliament out of its Christmas recess next week, should a trade deal be struck and must be ratified before the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31.
Johnson and von der Leyen last spoke on Sunday morning, when they removed a deadline to make a decision on whether a Brexit trade deal would be possible and agreed to “go the extra mile” and continue negotiations.
Senior Cabinet Minister Michael Gove minimized the prospects of reaching an agreement when he appeared before a committee of deputies on Thursday afternoon.
He told the House of Commons Brexit Committee that the “most likely outcome” was that the transition period would end without a deal.
“I think unfortunately we are more likely not to reach an agreement,” Gove said.
“So right now less than 50%.”
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How would the price of food affect any Brexit trade deal?
He added that, although recent talks with the EU had progressed, “significant” differences still persist between the two sides.
“The negotiation process has managed to reduce the areas of difference,” the Minister of the Cabinet Office told the deputies.
“It is certainly true that there are fewer areas of difference now than in October or July.”
Without a trade deal by the end of the Brexit transition period two weeks from now, the EU and UK will likely have to trade under World Trade Organization rules from January 1 with tariffs imposed in both directions. .
